The digital publication of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)
The ASTC Dimensions Resource Library provides peer-reviewed guides, articles, and insights written by science engagement colleagues about topics relevant to science centers and museums and other organizations committed to engaging the public in science and technology. Interested in contributing to the resource library? Learn more about our quarterly submission cycle and our submission guidelines.
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The organizational and contributor characteristics reflect the ways that ASTC classifies member organizations and individuals in our data collection and reflect categorization at the time the article was originally published.
Educators at Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing, Michigan partnered with youth representatives across the city and with University of Michigan STEM learning researchers to re-think and re-design the Center with a focus on social justice. Together, we embarked on a project we referred to as Reclaiming the Science Center (from January 2019 to February […]
Early in my career, I worked in a museum with a storied history of corporations’ dictating content. There were even instances of corporations creating entire exhibitions. It was a difficult introduction to corporate partnerships. Thankfully, there were a few stellar colleagues at that museum who modeled alternate paths. I spent the next decade or so […]
The Lawrence Hall of Science (known as “the Lawrence”) at the University of California, Berkeley, has long offered field trip workshops for students. In recent years—and especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic—we’ve found that teachers may need these experiences just as much as their students to support their own professional learning journeys. […]
In early 2007, the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) opened an exhibition on the history, human variation, and lived experience of race. The groundbreaking RACE: Are We So Different? was created by a multi-racial team from the American Anthropological Association and Science Museum of Minnesota, with funding from the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. The exhibition […]
As the ongoing pandemic is showing, STEM disciplines are vital to figuring out ways of coping with a range of disasters. There’s no better time than the present to capitalize on youth interest in increasingly common natural disasters and the technology used to address them. Science centers have been playing a significant role by connecting […]
The variety of activities ASTC members conducted in the summer of COVID-19 have provided valuable lessons for all members of the ASTC community. With a bit of time to reflect on successes and not-so successful activities related to summer camps, a few U.S. ASTC members were willing to share their perspectives on what worked, what […]
December 3, 2020 A number of individuals involved in science engagement have been elected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as AAAS Fellows. Beginning in 1874, AAAS has been electing Fellows in recognition of diverse accomplishments, including research, leadership, teaching, mentoring, fostering collaborations, and advancing public understanding of science. James Bell […]
ASTC speaks with Dr. Spencer Crew, interim director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
As the pandemic and social unrest have continued to ravage what remains of the status quo, science and technology centers and museums are stepping up their efforts to serve their local communities. One particular kind of activity that has proved vital, especially in recent months, has been addressing food insecurity through farmers markets and related […]
A Q&A with Kate Semmens, Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Fellow Kate Semmens is the Science Director at ASTC member Nurture Nature Center in Easton, Pennsylvania, where she helps advance the organization’s scientific and environmental outreach efforts, especially related to floods, climate change, art and science, community science, and social science research. She holds a PhD in environmental and […]